USA > Illinois > Henry County > Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 102
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in Geneseo; Andrew Miner, in Iowa; Sperry How- ard (deceased), and some think he was about the first settler in the township; and Wally Smith, who went West years ago.
R. W. Milar's family were the first that got moved into the village proper. He built the first dwelling. There were two other houses going up at the same time, but Mr. Milar it seems worked the fastest and was a day or two ahead of the others. This first house occupied is now the property of Fred. Kize .. One of the other two houses is now the hotel of the place. It was built by Trekell. The other build- ing was the first store room in the place, by N. W. Taylor. It is now a harness shop on State Street. Taylor was the first store-keeper and Postmaster.
With this flush start for a good town, the people put up as the fourth building a school-house. It is now a dwelling and belongs to Thomas Nowers, Jr. At one time additions were put to it and it became a hotel, and when it served its day in this line the ad- ditions were separated and made into two dwellings, one of which is occupied by the agent, Emmons, and the other by A. R. Walters. George Lowbauch put up the next building. It is now occupied by Daniel Seybert. Then Dr. Lucas put up a dwelling. He sold to Brandon and left this part of the country. Brandon died some 25 years ago. Slusser then built just north of Milar's. Isaac Fry erected a building on Mai :. Street, on the same block of Trekell's build- ing. Then E. F. Rose, just south of Milar's, and then Babbit built. Then E. F. Rose erected his el- evatcr and opened it for the trade of the farmers. Stephen Trekell then put up his store-room. Lor- cr.zo Eldridge built and opened his store about the same time, and soon after this Samuel Brant put up his building. The first brick building was erected in 1867, by Edward Everett.
The first school taught in the place was by Eliza- beth Nowers, now Mrs. Henry L. Lyon. Rev. Wm. White, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, preached the first sermon in the place.
A notice for the people to meet and vote upon the question of town organization was posted Jan. 12, 1867, signed by Luke Wills, Amos Fry and John Ashley. There were 19 votes cast at the election, II for and 8 against organization. A charter was obtained, and at the first election, Thomas Nowers, Sr., President, Dr. Levi Carter, John Ashley, Jr.,
George R. Babbitt and John M. Brown were elected a Board of Trustees, and John Ashley, Clerk. The town was under its special charter until June, 1878, when by a vote it changed to the general incorpora- tion law.
The present population is 500 ; has four churches : -The Methodist Episcopal Church, the Free Meth- odist, Congregationalist and Catholic. Three dry- goods stores, five groceries, one bank and one hotel.
The present village officers are, John Straly, Pres- ident; John W. Smith, John Johnson, John Eng- lish, John F. Nowers, J. C. Pierson ; and Charles E. Sheldon, Clerk.
The Congregational Church was organized in 1864. The same year they built their church at a cost of $2,700. The parsonage was built in 1868.
The M. E. Church was organized in 1857, by Rev. White, mentioned above as preaching the first ser- mon. Revs. D. M. Hill, O. W. Pollard and Knowl- ton were the Pastors in charge. Then Revs. Shel- don, Morey, Kinney, Woodruff, Frick, Heckard, Odell, Fleharty, Head, Swartz, Woodruff, Keller and Otterman. The church building cost $3,500.
The Catholic Church commenced its services in 1871. The church building cost $1,200.
BURNS TOWNSHIP.
HIS is one of the few townships untouched by the iron track of the railway, but finds good markets and shipping points about equi-distant to Kewanee, Cambridge and Gal- va, with good roads and easy approaches to either. The entire township is arable land, with a sufficient natural drainage in every part, and has the rather curious topography of the small drain- age streams that rise near its center and flow directly north, while from the center to the south line the small streams lead to the west and southwest. The face of the country is largely prairie, but in it are several valuable groves of timber, chief among which is Round Grove in the southwest corner. The set- tlers here were not town builders, it seems, as they have never laid out any great paper cities or at- tempted to plant and grow a flourishing and ambi- tious town that would spring into grandeur in a single night. The Edwards River, flowing west to
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the Mississippi, rises in section 25, and Round Grove Creek in section 35, with branches coming in from sections 32 and 34.
The first settler was Samuel Carson, a carpenter, from Harrison County, Ohio. He was born in 1811, and canie to the county in the spring of 1836. He improved 183 acres. He married Elizabeth Doty, Sept. 20, 1836, a native of Trumbull Co., Ohio, born July 4, 1814. There were born to them eight chil- dren-four boys and four girls ; three children died some years ago.
Mr. Carson was a successful farmer, was for some years a Justice of the Peace, and at different times held other offices in the township.
Jacob Kemerling came March 23, 1837; born in Columbiana, Ohio, May 18, 1807. He improved a splendid farm on section 35, of 426 acres. He was married to Sarah Allbright Feb. 10, 1820; she died Sept. 20, 1863, having borne nine children, eight of whom survived her.
Mr. Kemerling was very nearly the perpetual As- sessor and School Director during his life, having filled those places for more than 20 years. He was a noted man among the early settlers, and toward the close of his active life as well known as any man in the county. He was a most companionable man, and his delight was to meet old brother settlers, and all night and all day recount experiences, anec- dotes and frightful stories of hair-breadth escapes in the day of wild varmints in the land. If he could not get an old settler to swap experiences he would content himself with a " tender-foot;" and when he fell upon a credulous one he would delight to afflict him with stories that would bring the listener hid- eous nightmares for the next six months. In an -. other chapter is an encounter with a wolf on the prairie by a lone pedestrian on his way to Andover The wolf was large, and, driven by hunger, was ready to eat a pioneer blood-raw. The story is a hair -. starter, and the reader had better turn to it on an- other page, and thus gain some idea of what perils were once upon these peaceful prairies-what awful dangers by flood and field, and hungry wolves did once beset the peaceful pioneer.
Simeon Mathews settled on section 9. He was from Hartford County, Conn., born April 17, 1812, and landed in this county in 1848. He improved a splendid farm of 300 acres. He married Phebe Jane
Rogers in 1836. She was a native of Ohio, born in 1815 ; died March 30, 1868. In 1871 Mr. M. was again married to Minerva Hemingway, of Litchfield Co., Conn., who was born in 1816.
W. S. Charles came in 1842, and settled on section 32. He was a native of England, born Nov. 1, 1818. He improved 200 acres. He came to this county direct from Stark County, where he had settled in 1837. April 19, 1839, he married Esther L. Stod- dard, in Stark County, it being the first wedding in that county.
William Clement, a native of Ireland, born Jan. 26, 1828, came in 1851, and settled on section 25. His wife was Sarah Gash, born in Lincolnshire, Eng- land, in 1836. They were married in 1870.
George Kemerling settled on section 35, in 1841. He was born in Ohio, April 15, 1815. He married Jane Leonard, Sept. 2, 1847, a native of Ohio, born Oct. 10, 1827. They had six children.
Ira Parker came in 1851, settled on section 9, and improved a splendid farm of 411 acres. He was from Wayne Co., N. Y.
Michael Roberts came in 1852. He was born in Cumberland, Me , June 20, 1796. He came to Illi- nois in 1833, and stopped in Peoria, and then in Fulton County.
This was about all the settlers in this township until the days of railroad building, that decade from 1852 to 1862 that witnessed such a tremendous flow of immigration to this county, when every part of it became thickly settled.
CAMBRIDGE TOWNSHIP.
HE following history of Cambridge Town- ship is taken from an article prepared by B. W. Seaton, editor of the Prairie Chief, for the Old Settlers'meeting, August, 1877, and may be relied upon as entirely authentic : " Previous to the year 1840, what is now known as Cambridge Township had no history save that which is common to the whole West while slum- bering in the lap of nature. In 1835, when the prospecting party, headed by Ithamar Pillsbury, came this way in search of land on which to locate the Andover Colony, they found a little cabin near
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the west edge of Sugar-Tree Grove, a few rods north of the state road, on the farm now owned and occu- pied by Mr. Perkins -- better known as the Cady place. This place was the first habitation built in Cambridge Township, and was the headquarters of a party of hunters from Knox County, who paid a visit to this section annually to hunt deer, which were then quite numerous in the grove. In this little cabin Mr. Pillsbury and party spent one night; and they have often been heard to say that they passed the night more comfortably than they had at any other place since they left Peoria.
In 1838, William Stackhouse and James Mascall drifted this way in search of homes, and found them. On the northwest quarter of section 10, Cambridge, they found a double log cabin and other improve- ments-a well and a small patch of broken prairie. The house was deserted, and the " breaking " had run to weeds. These improvements were made by a man named Chillson, who supposed he was on Government land; but, finding there was a prior claim, he abandoned the place. Where he went to we have not been able to learn, but a man by the same name opened the farm in Cornwall now owned by Lewis Shearer. This man Chillson was the first who attempted to make a permanent home in Cam- bridge Township, and turned the first furrow. A few years later the cabin was "lifted " by Captain Mix and taken to his place in Andover. The well has long since caved in, but a slight hollow in the ground shows where it used to be.
After spending some time prospecting, and in their travels stumbling upon Richmond, the county seat, where a court-house was being built, Messrs. Mascall and Stackhouse each selected a farm and returned home.
In the spring of 1840 Wm. Stackhouse returned with his family, consisting of himself, wife and one daughter, and pitched his tent o. section 14, where he erected a log cabin and commenced housekeeping at once. He proceeded at once to turn up the prai- rie sod, and soon had the first crop raised in Cam - bridge Township, then without a name.
When he built his first cabin, having no timber of his own, he " borrowed " some, as he supposed, of Uncle Sam. One morning he was " pegging away " in the timber, when a fine-looking stranger on horse- back came along, told him he was tresspassing on
his land, and asked him what he was going to do with the logs. On being told by Mr. Stackhouse that he was building a house to shelter his family, who were with him, the stranger told him to go ahead and take all the logs he wanted for that pur- pose. This stranger proved to be Patrick Owens, known about here in years after as a "land-shark ;" but many remember him as a kind-hearted, generous gentleman, who could not do too much for a friend, or too severely punish an enemy.
The same year James Mascall, then a single man, came on and improved his claim on section 12. In common with all pioneers, Mr. Mascall met with misfortunes that would have discouraged many. Early in his career as a Western farmer, his team was broken up by the death of one of his horses. He soon got another; then the other died. Being literally "dead broke," he could not buy a fourth horse ; so he pressed a pair of young steers into ser- vice. One of these becoming lame and unfit for work, he put a heifer into yoke, and with a Dolly Varden team, consisting of one steer, one heifer and one horse, he got through with his year's work suc- cessfully.
When these pioneers arrived in 1840 they found Joseph Tillson keeping bachelor hall in a pole cabin near the west edge of the grove. He owned a quarter- section of the best land there, and his only occupa- tion seemed to be to prevent squatters and others from carrying off the trees.
So far as we have been able to learn, the actual population of Cambridge Township in 1840 was five -- William Stackhouse, wife and daughter, James Mascall and Joseph Tillson; and all, except Miss Stackhouse (who died many years ago) are still living ·in Cambridge.
In 1841 Richard Mascall came here from Wyo- ming, Stark county, built a cabin near Mr. Stackhouse, and became the sixth on the settlers' roll. About the same time Charles Else settled on section II. In the fall of the same year, Stephen Cady and his son-in-law, Alex. H. Showers, arrived and built a cabin where the Perkins House now stands. About the same time, Elisha Attwater came over from Andover and opened the farm just north of the vil- lage limits.
In 1842 Joseph Perry improved the farm next east of Richard Mascall's homestead, better known as the Shannon place.
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HENRY COUNTY.
Cambridge Village.
HIS beautiful little city is located near the center of the county, on the line of the Pe- oria & Rock Island Railroad, and is the county seat. Much was the excitement and great the controversy in selecting sites for the seat of the county's government. This fea- ture of the history of Cambridge is treated under the head of county seats.
Measured by the changes from the time this place was selected as the county seat until now, it looks as if long ages must have intervened between that time and the present. Where Cambridge now stands and as far as the eye could see, it was but the unbroken prairie-rolling, rich and beautiful as it came fresh from the hand of God. There was no house north of Sugar-Tree Grove nearer than the close vicinity of Geneseo ; west, there were no houses or improve- ments until you neared Andover. At the east end of the grove a settlement, or rather an improvement by A. H. Showers, had been fairly started ; to the south, Red Oak, six miles, was the nearest settle- ment. Galva was yet in the womb of the future and so was Bishop Hill settlement. Hence, to the east it was almost unmeasured quantity. At Wethersfield and Barren Grove, in the southeast, was a settle- ment. And at that early day the county-seat ques- tion had so embroiled some of the good people of Wethersfield and Barren Grove that they desired to secede from Henry and attach themselves to and be- come Starkians of Stark County. A few settlements were at Oxford and about Richland Grove in the southwest corner of the county. Andover was the most flourishing settlement in the county. Ten miles northwest of Cambridge were three or four fam- ilies who " stuck stakes " and commenced their im- provements.
At this time immigration to the county was very light, and a serious question to " Judge " 'Tillson was, now that he had secured the location of the town, how to induce men and money to go there. Cambridge was duly surveyed and platted, and named by Tillson ; the christening took place June 9, 1843. The " Judge " was the god-father of the
"infant phenomenon," responding to all the vows and winding up the ceremony, in his mind, with a final "By the eternal, Cambridge shall wax fat and grow." To this end, he built a cabin-a very, very small log hut, very squat, and, in the language of the pundits of the time, the " residence " was about as " broad as it was narrow." One or two others put up log cab- cabins about the same time the " Judge " did, but in the matter of smallness he distanced them all. In his determination to make Cambridge a populous town he married, and soon there was an addition to the house and in it; regularly as clock-work these additions went on, until finally the mansion was many additions clustering around; and inside and about the first small hut, like " birds of a feather that flock together," were the smiling and frolicsome young progeny.
The original town contained about 36 acres. Two public squares were platted : "Court Square " and " College Square." These two names are sug- gestive of the bent of mind at that time. One square was to punish criminals on, the other " square " was the first idea of a great institution of learning-" College Square," where, at that time, prairie wolves, frogs and crawfish chimneys were the existing alma mater for these classic grounds.
The court-house at Morristown was not completed when this last change of county seat occurred, and work was stopped. The people of the southern part of the county were invited to assemble, and every man to bring his work-oxen, and the court house was placed on " runners " and hauled to Cambridge over the prairie and tall grass. What an astonish- ment this moving court-house must have created as it slowly sailed along, rousing up the green-heads, the musical frogs and the lurking prairie wolves.
The court-house was thus moved in the following way : Messrs. Stackhouse, Hanna, Mascall, Cady, Osborn and others made a proposition to the County Court to move the house and complete it, they to have the house, and furnish the court room for its sessions until a new court-house could be put up. At other times the building was used as a school- house. The court-house was moved down Sept 5, 1843. After being thus used for three years it was sold to Messrs. Gaines, who put up a small addi- tion to it and converted it into a residence and store. July, 1844, a contract was made with Sullivan
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Howard for a new court-house. This was completed in July, 1845. This was for many years used for court-house, school, town hall and all other public purposes. Nearly all denominations held worship there, and the singing master, writing master, hum- bug phrenological, mesmeric and other cheap frauds lectured there ad libitum. It was evidently a "free for all."
Charles C. Blish surveyed and platted Cambridge, and was paid $14 therefor. His assistants were Al- bert Jagger and Sullivan Howard.
June 26 was the first sale of lots in the new town. Twenty lots were sold, at about an average of $20 each. There were 13 purchasers, and of these but three are known to have remained any time in the county. These were Tillson, Allan and Ayers. Qua lost his life in a stone-quarry, a mile and a half northeast of Cambridge ; Russell soon left the State, Montgomery went to Missouri, Jagger to New York and Thompson to California.
As much dodging and moving around as there was in the location of the county seat, it is but just to say that it was all in the best of good feel- ing, and no bad blood was ever stirred up, as in many other places, over the county-seat question. There was keen rivalry, but no bitterness, especially of that sometimes deadly kind that is sometimes to be seen in new counties in the West, and as was then sometimes to be seen in new counties in Illinois.
Joshua Harper who was one of the Morristown proprietors, was in 1843 selected by the Legislature to act as.a commissioner in settling the vexed and hot county-seat question in Whiteside County-a county where the question raged with great fury, and which Mr. Harper aided in finally and perma- nently settling.
The growth of the town was very slow indeed, be- cause expectation stood on tip-toe, looking for the new town to take up its bed and walk off to some new location, through force of habit, probably. But it has remained and verified the old adage that " the third time is the charm." It is a charming, quiet little unpretentious shire town, now possessing a splendid $8,000 court-house, a splendid soldiers' monument of enduring granite. a very elegant and commodious public-school building on "College Square," and a thrifty and contented, kind-hearted, genial, polite and cultured population of over 1,200.
The town originally was built about the two squares; the business houses fronting the Court- House Square and the first residences fronting the south side of College Square.
At one time or another the county has built four court-houses. Three of those buildings are now standing in Cambridge, the other one was burned, as related above. The little story-and-a-half court- house that was hauled from Morristown to Cam- bridge, is now a residence, and after its last travels, it stands on a lot three blocks east of the southeast corner of College Square. The other is used as a broom-corn warehouse, and stands a short distance west of the northwest corner of the Court-House Square. It was sold at public sale and purchased by Mr. Gould, and he had commenced to move it and had got it into the street and started on its travels, when Mr. Pillsbury purchased it of him and started to take it to Andover. He got it as far west as it now stands, and bad weather for houses to be out and exposed coming on, he left it in the street, where it stood until the authorities notified him to " move on" with his house. Owing to the continu- ous inclement weather for houses out of doors, or to its weight and cumbersomeness, or to a thousand other causes combined, it was shunted into the lot where it now stands, awaiting its owner's next move- ment to get it to Andover.
Sullivan Howard built this frame court-house, contracting therefor Sept. 3, 1844, and completed the building July 28, 1845. From its completion and for a long time it was the big house in the county. Here schools were taught, lectures delivered, debating societies, political meetings, prayer meet- ings, secret societies, dancing and preaching, in turn were in possession. The Congregationalists, Pres- byterians, Methodists, Baptists and Universalists at one time all worshiped in this building. Often as many as three different denominations would hold services on the same day, at different hours, and they dwelt in unity and harmony.
The oldst settlers all agree that the noted " village blacksmith," " Lord John " Russell, put up the first house in Cambridge. He occupied it with his family until he could erect a cabin, and then this first rude hut was his blacksmith shop. This first cabin was near the southeast corner of College Square. Judge Tillson hewed the poles for his more pretentious bride's residence.
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A log cabin was erected nearly opposite where the Cambridge House now stands, by W. A. Ayers, in 1843. In this house was confined the half-breed Indian, " John," who in cold blood murdered another Indian, " Jim,"-both of the Ottawas. John made his escape and went to his tribe on Rock River. The officers pursued him and Shabbona pointed out the culprit and delivered him to the law. He was again confined until the Grand Jury met, and it re- fused to find a "true bill " and he was turned loose. The murder was so flagrant, so cold-blooded and wanton, that the action of the jury in turning the murderer loose is to this day spoken of with signifi- cant headshaking.
John and Jim had started hunting, Jim walking along the path and John on his pony near behind, when he secured the gun of his victim to carry for him on the pony, he shot him in the back, and turned back, leaving the dead Indian lying in the path where he fell.
It was only a dead Indian, and his murderer was a living one who mixed with others of his tribe, and the white man wanted trade and traffic. Could it be possible that at that early day men appreciated the Shakespearean philosophy that " thrift might fol- low fawning?"
The first hotel was built by A. H. Showers in 1848. Prior to this time accommodations were furnished in any and every cabin in the place,- especially in Judge Tillson's. Showers ran it for some time and then rented it, and it was made a private residence, and as such became the property of Michael McFadden. Mr. Showers then erected the ptesent Cambridge House, which he sold in 1856 to A. and M. B. Gould. They added to the building and put on the third story. After running it five years, the Goulds sold to James M. Weir, who in turn sold to Joshua Bushnell, in February, 1864. Bushnell enlarged it again to its present capacity, and in February, 1876, sold to J. W. Hartzell. M. W. Thatcher kept the Cambridge House eight years. Afterwards he built the Thatcher House and opened it to the public.
There was no wild " booming " in Cambridge pro- perty. It was a modest, unpretentious county seat, and grew in population, buildings and business strict- ly in keeping with the demands made upon it by the wants of the public and the solid growth of the adja-
cent farming community. Other towns in the county had railroads and were putting on extensive city airs while it peacefully plodded on its way. It was for some years content to get along with a semi-weekly mail on the Peoria route that passed through Weth- ersfield to Geneso. It did not very greatly complain when in the early day this route was so changed as to leave it away off the road, and the mail-carrier would throw off the Cambridge sack at the "Cor- ners," ten miles east of the town ! There was no office there, and Cambridge hired a boy to bring the sack to town. Often matter put up in other offices in the county was sent to Massachusetts, being, we suppose, the supposed accessible Cambridge and the only one that anyone could possibly address a letter to. This distressing state of affairs continued until 1856, when a tri-weekly mail from Geneseo to Kewa- nee was established. For some years the only mail from the east came by the mail route from Princeton to New Boston. A weekly mail from Rock Island to Cambridge was eventually established. In 1853 a route was opened from Lancaster, on the Illinois river, to Cambridge; but this was soon discontinued. For years " Uncle Bobby " Robinson carried the mail from Cambridge to Rock Island. He was an express agent also, and was a trusty and valuable aid to all the people who had to do much of their shopping at the latter place.
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